


A different kind of ink

by Meridel



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hecate with tattoos, Inspired by Fanart, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 11:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13569867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meridel/pseuds/Meridel
Summary: Inspired by the beautiful fan art of Hecate with tattoos by BigBadWolfe. Ada is curious as to why Hecate insists on dressing head to toe in black in the middle of a heat-wave.





	A different kind of ink

It was the hottest summer on record. Positively _scorching._ It seemed to drive the girls of Cackles Academy mad as the end of term approached. They wouldn’t concentrate on their lessons, they were unseasonably boisterous, and most egregiously in Miss Hardbroom's eyes at least, there seemed to be uniform infractions left, right, and centre. 

“It’s the last day of term, I’m not worried about their ties, Hecate,” Ada had remarked to her at breakfast when Hecate’s eyes bulged at the sight of the entire fourth form cantering into the dining hall without a single tie properly tied between them. 

“It’s unbecoming and untidy,” Hecate had grumbled, but she kept any other curt remarks about the students appearances to herself. They would be gone after breakfast for six blissful weeks where she wouldn’t have to lecture anyone on the importance of orderly presentation and properly starched collars. 

Ada had to smile at Hecate’s restraint. Just last month the woman had been on at her case once again about returning to the old long sleeved blouses for the school uniforms. _Vanity is very unbecoming in a witch, Ada._ Yes, but heat stroke was also very unbecoming to a student’s health, Ada had pointed out. Judging by the way the weather this June had shaped up, she’d made a wise decision. 

Ada always spend the last morning of term supervising the girls departure from the front lawn. She liked to be in the thick of things to offer them her personal goodbyes and best wishes for a happy and healthy break. It was off to a lovely start. One couldn’t imagine a more perfect summer morning for flying; clear skies and a warm breeze. Ada had encouraged them to get a move on soon after breakfast, fearing that by noon the sun would be hot enough to be uncomfortable for any of them that had far to travel. But goodbyes between girls who won’t see eachother for six weeks always take longer than one expects and it was a quarter past twelve when the last broom was in the air. Ada waved them off cheerfully, though she was secretly dreaming of a large cold glass of water, or even a cool bath once they’d gone. 

Ada turned towards the castle, still debating between a bath or a drink when Hecate stepped out of the shadows cast by the great stone pillars that encircled the courtyard and thoroughly startled her. 

“It’s just me. Sorry.” Hecate raised a hand in apology. She had a habit of lurking in dark corners and she knew it could be alarming. Which when it came to the students she was quite content with that, but she hadn’t meant to surprise Ada.

“It’s quite alright,” said Ada smiling as she recovered herself. 

In one hand Hecate held a large opaque goblet, that was clearly intended for Ada. 

“I thought you might like this,” said Hecate. She handed the goblet to Ada with a half smile. “It’s frightfully hot.” 

Ada took it. The vessel was smooth and surprisingly cool under her fingers, something she hadn’t expected due to the complete absence of condensation. Inside a swirling blue mixture sparkled up at her. 

“A new concoution?” Ada asked, eyeing Hecate. 

“Hopefully an improvement on the last cooling draught,” Hecate said. 

“The last one worked fine,” pointed out Ada, taking a sip. “Oh!” Ada’s face broke into a wide smile as a fizzy lemon taste tickled her tongue. Immediately her body was swept with a pleasant tingling sensation that was far better at cooling her off than any ice water or bath could have been. 

“Yes, but this one should taste better?” Hecate asked, already knowing the answer. 

“Much,” said Ada, delighted. “Lemon was an inspired choice, Hecate.” 

There was a twinkle in Hecate’s eye that denoted amusement. “Yes, you could say it was.” 

Ada glanced slyly at her, but decided to let the comment slide. It did please her that Hecate was in such high spirits. Over the last week she’d been rather…’grouchy’ was the only word for it. It was something that always seemed to go hand and hand with the heat. 

“Shall we take a walk?” offered Ada. Hecate nodded. This was their custom, a pattern they’d fallen into since Hecate’s first term as potion mistress some eight years prior. A walk about the castle grounds to see that everything was in order didn’t require both of them exactly, but it had become a tradition they both enjoyed. 

It would have been more enjoyable if they were able to stay out of the sun, but there was no shade to be found as they walked along the south wall. Sooner than she’d have liked, Ada found herself panting with the effort and she stopped. 

“Ada?” Hecate quirked an eyebrow at her in concern.

“It’s just so hopelessly hot, Hecate.” Ada glanced at her Deputy who was clad from ankle to wrist to neck in heavy black fabric. “Honestly, I don’t know how you do it.” 

Hecate ignored this remark, taking a sudden intense interest in the stones that made up the south east tower.

Ada looked about and seeing that they were truly alone she made up her mind. “It’s summer hols, we might as well start celebrating now,” she remarked. 

Hecate looked at her curiously and Ada snapped her fingers. Gone was her long grey skirt and pink blouse, and instead she wore a pale green dress that was, to Hecate’s visable surprise, sleeveless. Even her shoes had changed from her usual black slippers to a pair of sandals and she was looking decidedly pleased with herself. 

“Much better,” Ada declared. 

Hecate managed to close her mouth and regain some degree of composure. She blinked several times. 

Ada smiled at her, not entirely oblivious to her effect on Hecate. There was just something about the combination of the weather and the way Hecate was eyeing her that made Ada willing to be recklessly flirtatious. 

“It’s a nice colour on you,” said Hecate, at last. “I don’t think I’ve seen it on you before.” 

“Thank you.” Ada looked at Hecate’s clothing again, realizing she’d never seen so much as her forearm before. “Hecate, honestly, aren’t you boiling?” 

Hecate coloured slightly and shrugged. She was, but that was beside the point. Still, perspiration beaded on her forehead and she could feel it pooling between her breasts. She wished she’d thought to bring herself a cooling draught as well before this little outing. 

“I’m alright,” she replied, starting to walk again. 

Ada frowned, but didn’t push. “If you’re sure.” 

Ada hadn’t been wrong and by the time they’d almost finished their rounds, Hecate had started to worry about the very real possibility that she might pass out. Tradition or not, transferring to her rooms to cool off before they finished was seeming more and more preferable. When she opened her mouth to say as much to Ada, instead “Ada, I’m not feeling well. I’ll meet you at the castle later,” she ended up just slurring Ada’s name before keeling over in a fit of dizziness. 

“Hecate?” Ada’s hand was on Hecate’s back, and she noted her blouse was damp with perspiration. “Are you alright?” 

Hecate managed to raise her head and she smiled weakly at her. “Sorry,” she muttered. She raised her hand to transfer, but Ada caught her trembling fingers before she could try. 

“Please, allow me,” Ada insisted. Hecate nodded her approval, and Ada whisked the both of them back to the castle. 

*

The Potions lab had seemed the logical choice, and there on Hecate’s desk was her cauldron still full of her latest version of cooling draught. Ada hastily ladled a measure into a clean measuring cup and handed it to Hecate, who gulped it down gratefully. It’s effect was immediate and Hecate straighten up and smoothed her collar. 

“Thank you,” she said stiffly. 

“Don’t mention it, dear,” said Ada, still puzzled by the whole business. “Hecate, it’s probably not my place to ask…” 

Hecate crossed her arms, instinctively trying to protect herself from what she suspected was going to be a personal inquiry. 

“It’s only...I don’t quite understand why you insist on long sleeves and high collars in such weather. It’s obviously uncomfortable and downright hazardous.”

Hecate was forced to agree with that. There was been a reason she’d been so intent on perfecting her cooling draught in her spare time this term and it hadn’t entirely been for Ada’s benefit. Though that was a nice perk.

“It just,” Ada tilted her head to the side, considering her. “You’ve never struck me as impractical before. Stubborn? Yes.” Hecate snorted. “Traditional? Quite. But not impractical.” 

Hecate looked at Ada for a long moment, thinking hard. “No, not impractical,” she mused. 

“Then what is it?” said Ada, feeling emboldened. “When the girls were here that was one thing, I suppose. You have your ways and I do respect that. But now it’s just you and I, surely-” 

Hecate raised her hand to interrupt Ada’s babbling. “You’re right.”

Ada blinked. “I am?” 

Hecate smiled, a soft smile that she reserved for Ada only when they were alone and she was particularly touched. “Yes. I am not impractical.” Hecate’s right hand fidgeted with her sleeve cuff and her smile turned to a look of consternation. 

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Ada added, fearing she might have pushed Hecate too far and now she would pull away from her. It was a dance they’d done many times before over the years. 

“No,” said Hecate earnestly. “I wanted to show you before, but I wasn’t...quite sure how.” 

Ada’s curiosity piqued. Show her what exactly? 

Hecate motioned for Ada to take a seat. Her desk chair was low, remarkably ornate, and profoundly uncomfortable, but Ada wasn’t so concerned with that at the moment. Not for now. 

Gingerly, Hecate unbuttoned the cuff of her left sleeve and rolled up the fabric to reveal a pristine pale forearm. 

Ada wasn’t quite sure what she was looking at. It was just an arm. Smooth and lovely to be sure but-

“Come on,” Hecate coaxed, looking down at her wrist. “It’s just Ada, don’t be shy.” 

Ada stared at her clearly cracked Deputy Head. Maybe she really did have heatstroke? But then-

Before Ada could take this line of thought any further, the image of a small black cat slinked down from underneath Hecate’s sleeve and settled near her wrist. 

Oh. 

Of all the things Ada Cackle had ever imagined about Hecate - and many of those things would have been decidedly embarrassing for Ada to admit to - a tattoo had not been among them. The cat arched it’s back and licked one paw before folding itself into a sitting position. It may have been just an image of a cat, but it seemed real enough that Ada was convinced the creature was looking at her. It’s eyes flickered and it’s tail twitched as Ada leaned forward to examine it more closely. This was more than a simple moving tattoo that one could get at any magical tattoo parlour in London. Whoever had created this was a master of the artform. 

“Who is it?” Ada asked in hushed tones. “The cat, I mean.” Ada was sure she must have been an homage to a real creature. 

“It’s my first familiar: Igraine,” Hecate said quietly. “Her spirit, anyways.” 

Ada’s heart dropped out of her chest and she leaned back in the chair. First familiar? Witches were paired with familiars for life, everyone knew that. There were no ‘first’ familiars, not unless something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. 

“Morgana is not…?” Ada couldn’t even finish the thought. 

Hecate shook her head grimly and settled herself with one hip leaning against her desk. She looked down at the cat perched on her wrist. “I received Igraine my first year at school and we were together for twelve years.” 

“What happened to her?” 

“I spent a year studying abroad in Turkey before my advanced magical education certification,” Hecate explained. “Unfortunately, it happened to be year of the Firebranch Bombings.” 

Ada remembered, though it had almost been thirty years back now. That single warlock - Edward Firebranch, curse him - had caused more damage in three days than any warlock before him. It remained a particularly sore point in witching history, considering the damage it did to both the magic and the ordinary population. 

Hecate took Ada’s tense expression as a yes and continued with her story in a low voice. “After he was caught there remained a city full of undetonated potions waiting for some unsuspecting witch or wizard to stumble across them unawares. I had an fairly extensive knowledge of how to handle volatile concoctions by this point and the Ministry was horrifically short-staffed. They let me volunteer to help remove the remaining ones.” 

Ada’s eyes widened. That could not have been a task for the faint of heart and Ada worried for Hecate despite the incident having been over and done with for decades. 

“I left her at the house I was boarding at,” Hecate added, stroking the cat with the back of her index finger. “But she followed me, the loyal little thing.” 

“She wanted to help her Mistress,” said Ada.

Hecate laughed bitterly. “Yes. Well. Cats may have nine lives, but a prodding one of Firebranch’s vile devices will take every last one.” 

Ada reached for Hecate’s hand.“Hecate, that’s awful. I’m so sorry.” 

Hecate’s eyes were damp and she blinked a few times. “Yes, well. Thank you. One of the woman I was boarding with, Alessia, she was an... artist.” The last word seemed uncomfortable in her mouth. Hecate cast her eyes to the ceiling in her usual dramatic fashion and she adopted a brisker tone. “I’d never did care for witches marks of any kind. Even the traditional ones have always seemed a bit gaudy in my opinion. Let alone the ridiculously decorated ones they’ve come up with nowadays.” 

Ada was usually amused when Hecate was overly judgemental, but now she saw it plainly for the defence mechanism it could be. 

“But,” Ada prompted gently, steering Hecate’s story back on track.

“But, when Igraine died. I...I felt...alone. Like some part of me was missing.” 

Ada nodded sympathetically. She’d been with Pendell her entire life, she couldn’t imagine him gone. 

“The woman I mentioned,” Hecate continued. “She and I went back to the site of the explosion and Igaine was…” Hecate gestured vaguely with her other hand as she tried to explain a notoriously imprecise concept. “She was still there. In a way. As you know it’s not a very reliable form of magic, poking about with spirits. A smart witch ought to leave well enough alone, I know. But. I...I missed her. So much. So I tried, and Alessia helped me. And together we managed to bring a little piece of her back.” 

“That’s what you meant when you said it’s her spirit,” Ada said, looking at the cat in fascination. “It’s literally her reborn in the ink.” 

“It was her choice,” added Hecate. “It...was important to me that I not keep her here if she didn’t want to be. The art only opens a pathway for her. In fact she could leave tomorrow if she wanted to, but she never has. And...I’m glad of it.” 

“A loyal little thing,” said Ada, echoing Hecate’s earlier words. 

Hecate smiled a half smile. “Yes,” she said, looking down at the cat affectionately. 

“Like her Mistress,” Ada added. 

Hecate blushed. “I suppose you’re right.” 

“She can travel around you then,” Ada asked, as the cat stood up again and stretched. 

“She can. She usually spends the day on my shoulder blade actually,” Hecate said. 

Ada frowned. “I’m sure she’d stay out of sight if you wanted her to.” 

Hecate looked self conscious. “Probably. But she’s not...that is…” Hecate bit her bottom lip. Ada had been nothing but loving and kind. Divulging personal aspects about herself was something Hecate had always found difficult and she was torn between an intense desire to share the entire piece and that little voice that always seemed to shut her down. She looked down at Ada, whose blue eyes gazed unwaveringly back, waiting. Hecate realized that the two of them were positioned remarkably close, something she hadn’t consciously intended, but she felt no need to back away. 

Making up her mind, Hecate straighten up and began undoing the buttons down the front her black silk blouse. 

“Hecate?” Ada wondered for a brief moment if she was dreaming, because Hecate Hardbroom appeared to be stripping in front of her in the middle of the potions lab. 

“Hold on,” said Hecate, as a sliver of a black camisole appeared beneath her blouse. Her fingers made quick work of the rest of the buttons. She untucked the blouse from her skirt and shrugged out of it in one smooth motion, letting it fall to the floor. 

Ada gasped. Starting at Hecate’s left elbow and flowing upwards a small solar system was inked across her skin. On the other side a set of vines with light pink cherry blossoms snaked up a toned bicep and curled around her shoulder. 

Hecate smiled ruefully at Ada’s shocked expression. “I...I didn’t want her to get bored, you see. So, I gave her the universe to play in.” 

To illustrate her point, Igraine marched up Hecate’s arm and batted a large orange planet out of orbit, sending it whizzing across Hecate’s chest. 

Hecate rolled her eyes. “She loves doing that. It will be back eventually.” 

Ada, still astonished, got to her feet, leaning on the desk heavily as she did so. “Hecate, it’s beautiful.” For a moment, Ada let herself stare openly at Hecate. The art was stunning, but so was the woman herself. Ada marveled at being permitted this openness, this strangely intimate moment. 

Hecate looked at her hopefully. “Is it?” 

Ada pressed her lips together. “Yes, my dear. Very much so.” 

Hecate swallowed. She thought she ought to feel anxious - after confessing something personal about herself she usually did - but instead she just felt warm and happy under Ada’s fond gaze. 

“And, if I may say Hecate, you are very beautiful too,” said Ada quietly. 

Hecate bit her lip again. Bravely she took a step forward bringing them so close together they were almost touching. “You may say so,” she said, looking at Ada meaningfully. 

Ada felt a rush of joy, so overwhelming she could have cried. She blinked and reached up to cup Hecate’s cheek. Hecate leaned into her touch, her hands finding Ada’s waist. 

“May I?” Ada whispered. 

Hecate nodded and dipped her head to meet Ada’s lips with her own. It was soft and gentle, but filled with great affection and great promise. When they finally broke apart, Hecate pulled Ada into a fierce hug. There was so much she wanted to say, but somehow that said it better. 

They clung to each other for a long time, Hecate’s cheek pressed against the top of Ada’s head. Ada reached out and gently traced the outline of a blossom on Hecate’s arm. She shifted so she she might look up at Hecate properly. 

“Thank you for sharing this with me,” she said. “It means a lot to know you trust me with it.”

Hecate pressed a reverent kiss to Ada’s forehead. “I’m glad you know,” she murmured. She raised a hand to run her fingers through Ada’s hair and Igraine came somersaulting down from her perch on a tree branch all the way to Hecate’s palm. The tiny cat sniffed inquisitively as both witches starred. 

“She’s never done that,” said Hecate in surprise. “Not ever.” 

“I think she likes me.” Ada laughed. 

“I think she does,” said Hecate in all seriousness. “When she’s angry, she prickles.” 

“Also like her Mistress,” Ada quipped. Hecate laughed - truly laughed and the cat, apparently satisfied, wandered out of sight. 

Hecate threaded her fingers through Ada’s silvery hair, still smiling, and pulled her into another joyful kiss. 


End file.
